An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempted to enter Ecuador’s consulate in Minneapolis, but was turned back by an employee, prompting an official complaint to the US embassy in Quito, the country’s foreign ministry said….
Video of the incident verified by Reuters showed an employee at the consulate telling the agent: “This is the consulate of Ecuador, you are not allowed to enter.”
“Relax, relax, I didn’t enter,” the agent replies, before telling the staffer: “If you touch me, I will grab you.” The agent leaves shortly after.
The Guardian
Consulates, like embassies, are inviolable. They are literally extensions of their respective nations on foreign soil. On a small scale, entering without permission is an invasion.
This current crop of ICE agents appears to be either poorly trained, or incompetent, or overzealous, or violent, or unstable, or ignorant, or believe they are invulnerable and unaccountable, or some combination. Their bosses appear to be either poorly trained, or incompetent, or overzealous, or violent, or unstable, or ignorant, or believe they are invulnerable and unaccountable, or some combination.
The recent murders by ICE in Minneapolis are explosive high-profile examples of where things are and where they are going. So the attempted forced entry into a foreign nation’s consulate may seem less significant. It is not.
None other than the capo di tutti capi, the big chief, the head man, told the world that the only guardrail and restriction on his actions and orders was his own morality. That tells us all we have to know about the next three years—or more.
Nobody living can ever stop me, As I go walking that freedom highway; Nobody living can ever make me turn back This land was made for you and me. Woody Guthrie, This Land Is Your Land
Each morning is an opportunity to string together a brief soundtrack before the news takes over.
Understanding and responding to this American moment is a challenge. What does it all mean?
A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke is regarded as the most lyrical theme song of the Civil Rights movement.
Then I go to my brother And I say brother help me please But he winds up knockin’ me Back down on my knees.
There been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long But now I think I’m able to carry on It’s been a long, a long time coming But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.
Willin’ by Little Feat is an irresistible song of perseverance.
Well, I’ve been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet Had my head stoved in, but I’m still on my feet And I’m still willin’
This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie is the actual national anthem of the United States of America.
As I went walking I saw a sign there, And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” But on the other side it didn’t say nothing. That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, By the relief office I seen my people; As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me, As I go walking that freedom highway; Nobody living can ever make me turn back This land was made for you and me.
“Minnesota’s top federal judge has summoned the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear before him on Friday, warning he may be held in contempt for allegedly defying court orders.”
Many in the Trump administration, including phony U.S. Attorneys like Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan, have defied federal judicial orders and been threatened with contempt of court.
There is an overwhelming problem with enforcing such contempt, which is issued at the discretion of a federal judge.
Look closely at the seal above. Federal contempt is enforced by the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Marshals Service is a division of the Department of Justice. Marshals work for Pam Bondi at the Department of Justice, who works slavishly for Trump.
Meaning: From Trump down to the lowest official in the federal government, anyone who defies a court order and is found in contempt has no worries, since the U.S. Marshals Service can be ordered to stand down by Pam Bondi and not enforce those orders.
I would include this as a footnote to any coverage that includes possible contempt of an administration official or worker for defying a federal court order.
“Hitler’s SA beat up Jews, vandalized Jewish businesses, and intimidated voters and political opponents. This violence helped suppress opposition while the Nazis maintained a veneer of legality.”
Both Mussolini (the inventor of modern fascism) and Hitler began their rise to power with the help of organized thugs. Mussolini had his Blackshirts and Hitler had his Brownshirts (officially the SA, Sturmabteilung, “Storm Detachment).
These are not the only authoritarians, dictators and fascists to enlist thugs to help them. Above is a picture of Hitler’s thugs beating up German citizens in the streets.
Overview:
The Blackshirts (or Squadristi) were paramilitary fascist groups that emerged in Italy after World War I and became essential to Mussolini’s rise to power.
Origins and composition: The Blackshirts formed around 1919-1920, initially as loosely organized squads of war veterans, unemployed workers, and disaffected young men. They wore black shirts as their uniform, which became their identifying symbol. Many members were ex-soldiers who felt betrayed by Italy’s treatment after WWI despite being on the winning side.
Their role in Mussolini’s rise: The Blackshirts served as Mussolini’s instrument of violent intimidation and political control:
Strike-breaking and anti-socialist violence: They attacked socialist organizations, labor unions, and leftist politicians, beating opponents and burning down socialist newspapers, meeting halls, and cooperatives. This earned them support from landowners and industrialists who feared socialist revolution.
Creating chaos and positioning fascism as the solution: By generating political violence and instability, they helped create conditions where Mussolini could present himself and his fascist movement as the force that could restore order.
The March on Rome (1922): Tens of thousands of Blackshirts marched on Rome in October 1922 in a show of force. Though it was more political theater than military coup, the threat of violence pressured King Victor Emmanuel III to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister rather than risk civil war.
The Blackshirts essentially functioned as Mussolini’s private army, using systematic violence to eliminate opposition and intimidate the political establishment into accepting fascist rule.
The Brownshirts, officially called the Sturmabteilung (SA, meaning “Storm Detachment”), were the Nazi Party’s paramilitary organization that played a crucial role in Hitler’s rise to power through street violence and intimidation.
Origins and composition: Founded in 1921, the SA initially served as security for Nazi rallies. They wore brown uniforms (hence “Brownshirts”) and attracted war veterans, unemployed young men, and working-class Germans during the economic turmoil of the Weimar Republic. Led by Ernst Röhm, the SA grew rapidly during the late 1920s and early 1930s, eventually numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
Their role in Hitler’s rise:
Street violence and intimidation**: The SA engaged in brutal street fights with communists and socialists, attacked political opponents, and disrupted rival parties’ meetings. They created an atmosphere of chaos and civil conflict that undermined confidence in the Weimar government.
Projecting strength and inevitability: Through massive rallies, marches, and their visible presence in brown uniforms, the SA made the Nazi movement appear powerful and unstoppable, attracting supporters who wanted to be on the “winning side.”
Terror tactics: They beat up Jews, vandalized Jewish businesses, and intimidated voters and political opponents. This violence helped suppress opposition while the Nazis maintained a veneer of legality.
Electoral intimidation: During elections in the early 1930s, the SA’s presence at polling places and their attacks on opponents helped create conditions favorable to Nazi electoral success.
After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the SA helped eliminate remaining opposition. However, Hitler later purged the SA leadership in the “Night of the Long Knives” (1934) when they became a political liability.
Dick Clark is known as an entertainment impresario, from American Bandstand to Rockin’ New Year’s Eve. Less known is his brief career as an actor and movie producer. One of the three movies he produced in 1968 is Psych-Out.
Psych-Out is a great dramatized on-location non-documentary about the last days of love in San Francisco. The plot is ridiculous, and ridiculously complex and fevered. It begins with Jenny (Susan Strasberg), a deaf runaway, who comes to Haight-Ashbury looking for her brother The Seeker (Bruce Dern), falls in love with musician Stoney (Jack Nicholson), and ends up standing in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, her hearing miraculously restored.
Following is the trailer and the entire movie online.
Note: As outrageously over-the-top as this is, know that in countercultural moments aiming for better, which many times fall down and flat, this kind of mockery and ridicule is a standard weapon. Like accusing well-meaning people you hate of eating pets. So many things went wrong so fast with the Summer of Love phenomenon. But like the song goes, What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding?
Dean Chamberlain is an extraordinary photographic artist. He works in a technique known as light painting, using hand-held lights to illuminate and color a scene photographed in long exposure. While versions of the technique have been known and used since the early days of photography, Dean was the first artist to work exclusively in the medium.
Dean Chamberlain is the father of light painting photography and has been capturing photographs since 1967. It was his passion for photography that led him to the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1974 to pursue a fine art degree. During Dean’s time at Rochester in 1977 he discovered light painting photography. Dean was the first person to coin the term “Light Painting” for his open shutter long exposure photographic technique. He has worked with his unique art form ever since in his various works. Dean has created stunning portraits of well-known individuals such as David Bowie and Paul McCartney. He has also directed numerous music videos. Chamberlain’s work has appeared in publications such as Esquire, Vanity Fair and the Washington Post. He has received an MTV breakthrough award for directing music videos for Arcadia (Missing), Paul McCartney (This One) and Duran Duran (All She Wants Is).
Along with light painting rock stars, landscapes and other subjects, Dean created a unique series called Elder Psychedelic Pioneers. This includes Timothy Leary, Albert Hofmann, Alexander Shulgin, and others—many of whom have now passed on.
Coronavirus in N.Y.: Toll Soars to Nearly 3,000 as State Pleads for Aid, April 3, 2020
Covid was a virulent virus—and still with us—that spread across America and the world.
In America, the response was mixed. Scientists worked tirelessly to develop an effective vaccine, though some questioned the science. Some citizens responded by changing their behavior and taking the vaccine. Other citizens refused to change behavior and rejected the vaccine. As a result, we got through it, but millions died, many needlessly, and millions were left with lasting Covid effects, many needlessly.
If today we are subject to a damaging and deadly virus of a different kind, how are Americans responding? Acting as if there is no virus, not acting vigorously against it, questioning science and rationality, hoping it will “just go away eventually” is not a plan. As with Covid, that is a path to millions suffering or dying, and our ways of life being changed forever.
Don’t wanna be an American idiot Don’t want a nation under the new mania And can you hear the sound of hysteria? The subliminal mindfuck America Green Day, American Idiot
Whether or not you are an NFL fan, we have to give it credit for Trump resistance.
First, if money is power, the NFL is very powerful. It is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, making it the richest sports league in the world. Which means that unlike FIFA, the global football/soccer organization that gave Trump a made-up peace prize, the NFL doesn’t have to bend a knee, kiss an ass, or give a shit.
To prove it, the NFL gave the iconic half-time show to Bad Bunny, a massive star from Puerto Rico (yes, he is American) who sings only in Spanish. Now the transgressive punk band Green Day will play at the opening ceremony.
Super Bowl LX Green Day to Kick Off Game, Another Trump Dig!!!
Published January 19, 2026
Donald Trump’s haters are absolutely thriving right now … Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has been outspoken about his disdain for the present administration … and the band has just been tapped to open the Super Bowl!
The punk rock band — which hails from Rodeo, California, in the Bay Area — will kick off Super Bowl LV at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, February 8.
Billie Joe released a statement … “We are super hyped to open Super Bowl 60 right in our backyard! We are honored to welcome the MVPs who’ve shaped the game and open the night for fans all over the world. Let’s have fun! Let’s get loud!”
This comes after the singer led a crowd at Download Festival last summer in a chant calling Trump a “fat bastard.”
Remember … Trump had a lot to say about Bad Bunny — another known Trump critic — headlining this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, calling the decision “absolutely ridiculous.”
He complained … “I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know who he is,” in an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly in October.
It’s quite peculiar in a funny sort of way They think it’s very funny everything I say Get a load of him, he’s so insane… But is it in your conscience that you’re after Another glimpse of a madman across the water Madman Across the Water, Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Critics and fans have believed the song is talking about either the thirty-seventh president of the United States of America Richard Nixon or German dictator Adolf Hitler. Although most people believe that it is about Nixon, Bernie Taupin denied it, stating “Back in the seventies, when people were saying that ‘Madman Across the Water’ was about Richard Nixon, I thought, ‘that is genius’. I could never have thought of that.”
We can believe Bernie Taupin, lyricist for so many Elton John hits. But these days, more than fifty years later, the song again resonates. Do we think that Europeans looking across the Atlantic Ocean see a “madman across the water”? Do we think that Americans here see a “madman on this side of the water”?
When it seems the Germans are getting away in their submarine, he invokes another magic spell, “Rehtafdnarg Fo Lla Sessurlaw Knis Taht Enirambus!”, to call for the help of a local walrus.
The walrus stops the submarine and the U.S. Navy arrives!
All is well in Greenland!
So if you hear the President of the United States saying something that sounds like “Ralop Raeb Esahc Yawa Eht Sizan!” or “Rehtafdnarg Fo Lla Sessurlaw Knis Taht Enirambus!”, you’ll know what it’s about.
Bob Schwartz 